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Archive for October, 2015

Being a Nirvana fan in the mid-90’s, i’d heard of the fabled Fecal Matter demos, but never had a chance to hear the songs until someone uploaded it to Youtube in the mid-00’s. And Buffy’s Pregnant was an immediate standout. Kurt’s valley-girl impersonation is spot on – it reminds me of the Babysitter’s Club books and all the other inane shit of that ilk that was forced upon me as a kid in the 80’s.

Calling this a Nirvana song is not entirely correct, as it appeared on the Fecal Matterdemo tape, officially Cobain’s first band release. Fun fact: the song features Dale Crover from the Melvins on bass.

Nirvana always had this great sense of humour to me, which I think gets kind of lost sometimes in the sombre portrayals of Kurt Cobain as this anguished artist who was too sensitive for the real world. So while it’s rough as guts, this song reminds me of all the good stuff about being in a band – poop jokes, sick riffs, and just having fun playing music.

I re-watched season 2 of Bojack Horseman today, and for those that don’t know, the series finale ends with Courtney Barnett’s “Avant Gardener” playing over the credits. It’s a great sync, and as an Aussie it makes me feel weirdly proud to see a local doing so well.

When I first heard C-Barnes on FBi 2 years ago, there is no way I would’ve guessed that she’d explode on the international music scene and end up being one of the biggest Aussie music exports of the decade.

.I liked it, and I could definitely relate to it – but there’s a ton of local acts I feel that way about, and they usually remain stuck on the sidelines, achieving ‘local hero’ status in the realms of alternative radio and sold-out local shows, but rarely, if ever breaking onto an international stage.

But she did, and she gets today’s song of the day. Here’s my absolute favourite version of Depreston ever:

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On a side note, I have a love-hate relationship with this song because I wrote a song that sounds really similar a few years ago, but could never figure out how to finish it. It’s the same 2 chords, tempo, feel, and a similar vocal melody, and there’s just no foreseeable way I could finish it now without it sounding like a total rip-off of Depreston.

So this song always reminds me that if you don’t do something with that great idea you have, the universe will eventually give it to someone else who will.

I was hanging out with a friend last night who isn’t really into Smith Street – “too ocka and shouty” was her general complaint – but we usually like the same stuff, so she asked me to make a mix for her to check out.

Driving home I was thinking about what songs to put in there, and I Don’t Wanna Die Anymore was high on the list. I think anyone who’s battled the black dog and won (even if only temporarily) can probably relate to the sentiment of this song. It always makes me smile when I hear it and it goes off live.

Also the little lead riff that comes in during the bridge reminds of a classical song that I just can’t put my finger on – I think it’s the song usually played on the church bells at weddings? 100 music genius points to anyone who can name that song for me!

After mentioning Strapping Young Ladin yesterday’s post, I figured they deserved today’s song of the day. They’re one of my favourite metal bands of all time, and while i’m not religious, Devin Townsend is probably the closest thing I have to a personal saviour.

I think everyone has a song that represents adolescence, and all the confusing, difficult and awkward shit that inevitably comes with being a teenager. For me, it’s Detox. “This is only high school bullshit” became my mantra when I was 15, and to this day I still find it popping up in my mind when I start to lose my shit.

I first heard about Cop Shoot Cop when Strapping Young Lad covered a song of theirs called Room 429. Their stuff was really hard to find back in the day, but I eventually managed to track some down, and Any Day Now was one of the first songs I heard.

Aside from the having great lyrics (One of these days I’ll be a spectator in an audience of whores), and that oh-so tasty bass riff, I like to imagine the song is being sung by William ‘D-Fens’ Foster from Falling Down.